KR20040024900A - Apparatus of cleaning the semiconductor wafer and method of using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A cleaning apparatus and method of a semiconductor substrate are provided to prevent damage of the semiconductor substrate by identifying the alignment of the substrate using a sensor. CONSTITUTION: A cleaning apparatus of a semiconductor substrate includes a bath(200) for loading the semiconductor substrate and a sensor(204) formed on the bath. The sensor(204) compares an unloading image to a loading image and identifies the edge line alignment state of the semiconductor substrate. Preferably, a digital camera is used as the sensor(204).

Description

Apparatus of cleaning the semiconductor wafer and method of using the same}

The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus for a semiconductor substrate and a cleaning method using the same, and more particularly, to a cleaning apparatus capable of confirming alignment of a semiconductor substrate and a cleaning method using the same.

In order to manufacture a semiconductor device, various wiring patterns (eg, tungsten, aluminum, titanium or titanium nitride wiring, etc.) and contact or via holes exposing the wiring patterns must be formed on the semiconductor substrate. The process of forming the wiring pattern and the contact hole or the via hole includes a photo process, an etching process, an ashing process, a cleaning process, a rinse process, and a drying process.

The cleaning process is intended to remove impurities from the surface of the semiconductor substrate, such as an etching process for forming a wiring pattern, a contact hole or a via hole, and an etching residue generated during the ashing process. Impurities to be removed include organic polymers formed by reacting plasma with components such as C, H, and O, which form the photoresist pattern during the plasma etching or the reactive ion etching (RIE) process, and the wiring during the etching or ashing process. An organometallic polymer formed by back-sputtering a photoresist pattern and a sidewall of a contact hole or a via hole, a resist residue remaining on a surface of a semiconductor substrate after an ashing process, and an insulating film under a wiring pattern. There is an insulator (mainly a silicon oxide film) or a metallic insulator formed by back-sputtering while over-etching. With the trend toward higher integration of semiconductor integrated circuits, contamination caused by the removal of impurities has a great impact on product yield and reliability. Therefore, the importance of the cleaning process is further increased.

In order to clean the semiconductor substrate, the semiconductor substrate is charged into a bath containing a cleaning liquid. At this time, the loaded semiconductor substrate is smoothly cleaned and the semiconductor substrate is aligned in order not to damage the semiconductor substrate.

Hereinafter, a general cleaning method will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a general cleaning method.

Referring to FIG. 1, the cleaning apparatus includes a loading unit 100 for loading a semiconductor substrate, a cleaning unit 102 for cleaning the semiconductor substrate, and an unloading unit 108 for unloading the semiconductor substrate. The cleaning unit 102 includes a bath 104 containing a cleaning liquid and a semiconductor substrate guide 106 supporting the semiconductor substrate. The transfer of the semiconductor substrate to the cleaning unit 102 uses a robot. In addition, it can also support by a robot, without using the semiconductor substrate guide 106 as a method of supporting a semiconductor substrate. In addition, the remaining carrier is transferred to the unloading unit 108 by the moving line 110 after the transfer to the bath 104 in the loading unit 100.

In order to clean the semiconductor substrate, alignment of the semiconductor substrate is required in order to avoid transferring the semiconductor substrate to the cleaning unit 102 or damaging the semiconductor substrate during the cleaning. Typically, the alignment of the semiconductor substrate is performed after being transferred to the loading unit 100 and the unloading unit 108 after cleaning before being transferred to the cleaning unit 102.

By the way. If misalignment of the semiconductor substrate occurs in the bath 104 during the cleaning process, further damage or complete damage of the semiconductor substrate may occur, resulting in contamination of the cleaning apparatus and damage of the semiconductor substrate in series. do.

Therefore, the technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a semiconductor substrate cleaning apparatus that can prevent further damage by checking the misalignment of the semiconductor substrate generated during the cleaning process.

In addition, another technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a semiconductor substrate cleaning method that can prevent further damage by checking the misalignment of the semiconductor substrate generated during the cleaning process.

1 is a schematic view illustrating a general cleaning method.

2 and 3 are schematic views illustrating a cleaning apparatus of a semiconductor substrate and a cleaning method using the same according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cleaning apparatus for a semiconductor substrate, wherein the semiconductor having a bath capable of charging the semiconductor substrate is installed on an upper portion of the bath, and the images of the semiconductor substrate are loaded before and after the semiconductor substrate is charged. It is provided with a detector for checking the alignment of the edge line of the substrate.

According to the semiconductor substrate cleaning apparatus according to the present invention, it is preferable that the detector is a digital camera.

The semiconductor substrate cleaning method according to the present invention for achieving the above another technical problem,

And loading a semiconductor substrate into a bath and comparing the images before and after the semiconductor substrate is loaded by a detector to confirm the edge line alignment of the semiconductor substrate.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but can be implemented in various different forms, only this embodiment to make the disclosure of the present invention complete, and complete the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art It is provided to inform you.

2 and 3 are schematic views illustrating an apparatus for confirming alignment of a semiconductor substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention and a confirmation method using the same.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, an edge line alignment checking apparatus of a semiconductor substrate is installed on a bath 200 capable of charging a semiconductor substrate and on top of the bath 200, before and after the semiconductor substrate is charged. A detector 204 is provided to compare the images to confirm edge line alignment of the semiconductor substrate. The detector 204 displays an image of the top of the bath 200. If necessary, the position of the detector 204 may be variously changed. The bath 200 may include a semiconductor substrate guide 202 for supporting a semiconductor substrate, and may be supported by a robot in some cases. Furthermore, the detector 204 may be a digital camera.

FIG. 2A shows an image before the semiconductor substrate is loaded and FIG. 2B shows the image after the semiconductor substrate is loaded. When comparing (a) and (b) of Figure 2 there is no difference in the image before and after loading. As a result, there is no abnormality in the alignment of the semiconductor substrate, and the cleaning process continues.

FIG. 3A shows an image before the semiconductor substrate is loaded and FIG. 3B shows an image after the semiconductor substrate is loaded. FIG. 3B shows an image 206 with misalignment of semiconductor substrates as compared with FIG. 3A. As a result, the alignment of the semiconductor substrate can be confirmed to be inconsistent, and the cleaning process is stopped immediately. Therefore, since the loading of the semiconductor substrate is prohibited later, damage to the semiconductor substrate that is additionally generated can be avoided.

According to the semiconductor substrate cleaning apparatus according to the present invention and the cleaning method using the same, further damage of the semiconductor substrate by checking the alignment of the semiconductor substrate by comparing the image before and after the semiconductor substrate is loaded by the sensor installed in the upper end of the bath The cleaning apparatus and the cleaning method of a semiconductor substrate which can prevent this can be provided.

Claims (4)

A bath capable of charging a semiconductor substrate; And a detector installed on top of the bath to check whether the semiconductor substrate is aligned with edge lines by comparing images before and after the semiconductor substrate is charged. The method of claim 1, And said detector is a digital camera. Charging a semiconductor substrate into the bath; And checking an edge line alignment of the semiconductor substrate by comparing images before and after the semiconductor substrate is charged by a detector. The method of claim 3, And said detector is a digital camera.